Your Spell Version is Too Low!

"Only one Venerable?"

Qi Yun narrowed his eyes. The look within them was like the moon reflected in a deep pool—profound and unfathomable.

"In any given era, two Venerables cannot coexist.

The Venerable Masters of this world will, under the guidance of some unseen force, encounter one another, clash, and fight to the death.

Until only a single Venerable is left."

The God of Wealth’s tone was slow, yet it held a depth born from ancient eons, having witnessed the fall of countless prodigies.

"So you must be careful. Throughout history, each of the Twelve Venerable Ones has possessed the power to look down upon the world.

A battle between Venerables is no ordinary conflict. Its brutality and unpredictability are far beyond imagination.

Even a True Monarch descending upon the mortal plane could not necessarily predict the outcome.

Moreover..."

It paused, its phantom of Spiritual Light flickering as if recalling some fundamental law. After a few moments of silence, it continued:

"The emergence of one Venerable often stirs the auras of all the others, like a single spark starting a wildfire.

Your battle among Venerables is not far off."

’In any given era, two Venerables cannot coexist... To think the spirit of this Golden Tang Dynasty Imperial Soldier knows such a profound secret.’

Waves of shock crashed through Qi Yun’s heart, but his expression remained as placid as still water. He silently committed those words to memory.

"Thank you for your guidance. I have learned a great deal." He bowed his head slightly, his tone sincere.

"Let’s dispense with the ’senior’ and ’junior’ formalities. It’s all so stuffy." The God of Wealth’s Spiritual Sense conveyed a hint of relief.

"You saved my life, so it’s only right that I repay the favor.

Now that my spiritual nature has entered the world and taken this form, you can just call me by my secular name—Cai Shen."

"Cai Shen? Like ’God of Wealth’? A fitting name." The corners of Qi Yun’s lips lifted in a faint smile. ’A prophetic name, and one that suits the origin of this Imperial Soldier.’

...

In the brief time Qi Yun and Cai Shen were conversing within Daluo Heaven, the atmosphere above the Valley of No Life had plummeted.

The fleeting cooperation among the seven Great Masters—who had just joined forces to seal the Imperial Soldiers—had dissolved, replaced by a suffocating, bitter standoff.

The main body of the God of Wealth, a tree a thousand zhang tall and shimmering with a dark golden luster, floated silently at the center of the vast, seven-layered seal.

But the ancient Dao Rhyme it naturally exuded—forged from the peak fortune of the Golden Tang Dynasty and boundless Wish Power—was more soul-stirring than any dazzling radiance.

An eight-character inscription—"Kaiyuan Tongbao, Everlasting Prosperity"—faintly visible in the cracks of its bark, seemed like eight ponderous Talisman Seals of the Great Dao. They suppressed all of time and space while simultaneously searing the Dao Heart of every Great Master present.

Imperial Soldiers were Imperial Soldiers, after all!

Even without its animating spirit, it was still an unrivaled Supreme Treasure!

With seven beings from both the righteous and demonic factions, each standing at the apex of the current age, who would be willing to give it up so easily?

In the face of a tangible Supreme Treasure, the fragile truce they had maintained while hunting its spiritual nature proved as thin as a cicada’s wing, shattering at the slightest touch.

No words were needed. Pulled by the threads of their own power, the standoff was set.

On the Nanyin side, the Maitreya-like smile never left the Laughing Buddha Venerable’s face, but the warm, compassionate Buddha Light surrounding him had solidified like polished gold. Golden lotuses bloomed from the void wherever his light touched, yet at the heart of each flower, a tiny swastika spun in reverse, emitting a contradictory Dao Rhyme of both salvation and suppression.

Though the Ancient Sword cradled by the Dragon Slayer Sword Master remained sheathed, the space around its hilt had transformed into a Sword Forbidden Domain of absolute nothingness. Any Dao Principle not of the sword that dared to intrude was silently obliterated.

The Confucian King, Huangfu Qianqiu, was the calmest of them all. He stood tall and straight, holding a scroll in his hand.

Yet, as his gentle eyes blinked, phantom images of ancient seal script flickered in and out of existence within them. The world around him seemed to be reordered by some invisible "Principle," becoming perfectly orderly, yet concealing the thunder of the Celestial Constitution within.

Opposite them, the titans of the Northwest Four Sects linked their auras, their demonic might surging even higher.

In the Star River Reversal phenomenon unfurling behind Nan Dou Master, innumerable stars flickered with increasing speed, as if calculating a celestial game of slaughter. Starlight descended like tangible chains, coldly locking onto the three opponents across from him.

San Si Master’s figure blurred, splitting from one into three, and from three into nine. Each of the nine phantoms held a different Dharma Seal as his consciousness fractured into a thousand streams.

The phantom of an ancient tree took root in the void behind Jiu Li Master. As its branches and leaves swayed, they scattered motes of ashen-blue light. At the treetop, a regal and impossibly noble crimson figure flickered in and out of sight, looking down upon the world and radiating immense heat.

A phantom of the Yellow Springs surged and roared beneath the Reincarnation Master’s feet. The black-and-white light of rebirth coalesced into vortexes in his eyes, emitting a terrifying suction that promised the end of all things and their forced reentry into the cycle. Even light itself seemed to warp and collapse as it drew near.

Seven boundless and peerless pressures, each touching upon the apex of some aspect of the Great Dao, silently collided and ground against one another above the Valley of No Life!

RUMBLE...

It was the dull, mournful cry of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism, brutally churned by the immense forces.

High in the sky, the leaden clouds were no longer merely hanging low; they had been torn into a bizarre vortex. Serpents of lightning danced madly within, yet they were so intimidated by the terrifying power below that they dared not strike.

In the valley below, across a thousand-li expanse, every speck of dust, every piece of rubble, and even the pervasive, death-still gray mist hung frozen in mid-air.

If an ordinary Foundation Establishment Master were here, their Divine Soul would be instantly crushed and their Dao Foundation shattered by this invisible clash of Daos!

The stalemate lasted for less than a single breath.

"Amitabha Buddha," the Laughing Buddha Venerable was the first to break the silence. Though he spoke with a smile, he had already thrust out a hand. "This item shares a fate with the Buddha. It should be returned to Little Sumeru Mountain for suppression, to have its worldly dust cleansed away and be refined into a treasure for a War Buddha Dharma Guardian."

His plump hand swelled in the air, transforming into a dazzling Buddha’s Hand that covered a hundred acres, its fingerprints like mountain ridges and ravines. A swastika spun like a wheel in its palm, unleashing a boundless, absorbing Buddha Light as it reached directly for the Golden Tree within the seal!

Wherever the Buddha Light passed, ripples of sandalwood gold spread through space, threatening to drag the tree into a Buddha’s Pure Land.

"In your dreams, you bald donkey!"

The Reincarnation Master roared. The phantom of the Yellow Springs behind him erupted, transforming into a turbid, sky-blotting Nether River that surged to intercept the Buddha’s Hand.